Thursday, October 02, 2008

Sebastian Krüger Workshop 2008

Just recently got back from a trip to Germany where I attended the 4th annual Sebastian Krüger workshop. In a nutshell, 20 artists from around the world came out to Barsinghausen/Germany to paint for five days and learn from the master painter himself, Mr. Krüger.

The theme for the class was to do a group painting. I couldn't think of any better characters to paint than the actors from the movie Goodfellas. The above pic is what I ended up doing in the class. The painting probably needs a couple more hours of work. Watching how Krüger approached his painting made me start this one differently than I usually would. I'll post the finished piece at some point.

Here I am with some of the local artists that came out for the workshop. Patrick, on the far left is a local character artist from Germany. Check out the awesome Kirk Douglas piece he did on his blog by clicking here. The guy in the orange shirt is full time Austrian cop, part time character artist, and full time drinker, Geronimo. I think he ended up doing characters of the whole class over the course of the week. Check out his blog here. The gentleman on the far right is also a local German artist, Jens-Uwe. (hope I spelled that right Jens) Jens had all the cool art books in the workshop, and all the good German beer. In Germany, it's customary to say "Prost!" instead of "Cheers!" Sometimes, though, you just have to say, "Saturday!"

Ismael Roldan, from NYC, did this great Aerosmith piece for the class. Check out his blog and website.

Ique, from Brazil, did this great painting of his children. If you ever have an improve jam session, Ique can also provide a great rhythm section at the drop of a hat. Multi talented, this man.

Another local artist was Stefan. I think this Bono painting was Stefan's second painting for the workshop. This kid is talented for only 21. He must be stopped.

Here's Terry Wolfinger, from LA, working on his third painting that he did for the workshop. Turns out we both grew up in San Jose California. I just ended up moving North, and he went south, Check out his website here.

Everyone was a target for being sketched in the workshop. When the Canadian artists, Bob and Bruce broke out the guitars, Yonie Woo, from Korea couldn't resist sketching them.

I think the person that was sketched the most in the workshop was Geronimo.

Above, is character artist, Jeremy (aka JERT!) from Atlanta Georgia working on his second painting for the workshop. Here we see Jeremy attacking his painting with no remorse. Check out his blog and website for more JERT awesomeness. Also, if you ever need someone to give you a tour of Amsterdam, this is the guy to hit up. Thanks again holmes.

Last but not least, is the man himself, Mr Krüger. It was very inspiring, humbling, and such a treat to watch this man work. To give you an idea of what he's capable of, check out this picture, from his art blog, of the painting that he did for the workshop. This was started from scratch, as the painting "demo" for the class. It was started on Tuesday, and was pretty much done by Thursday. It was all straight up acrylics on that huge canvas. No under drawing or preliminary sketches. 'Hit the ground running and don't look back' was the only preparatory thing I could tell that was happening. Why? Because he can.

It was hard not to get inspired by watching Krüger work. Watching how the other 19 artists in the class all approached their paintings was also very inspiring. Sorry if I missed any one's websites. Here's a group shot of the rest of the class. I'll post more links to their work when I get a chance. I'm still sifting through photos from the class and the trip and will post those with a link to the ol' Flicker account when I get a chance. I'm currently getting ready for another Brushes Needsles and Burnouts show and will have more to post from that when I get back. That being said, it's back to the drawing board for me. 'Till next time...............

Patrick, It was good meeting you and all the other F.O.K.'s as well. I hope to make it out to Germany again for the next workshop. Until then, keep the pencils flowin, and I hope every day for you, is Saturday.

About Me

After 15 years in the video game industry (Suckerpunch prod. Humongous Ent.) doing everything from backgrounds to concept art, to texture mapping, El Pagano decided to leave the world of video games and tread the shark filled waters of a free lance artist.